laparotomy

noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"laparotomy" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“laparotomy” is uncommon English (frequency #90,645 among 16,425 “L” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#90,645
frequency rank, English
16,425
“L” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The surgical procedure for making an incision in the abdominal wall to gain access into the abdominal cavity. Performed either as exploratory surgery, or as the first step in an abdominal operation.

Key facts for laparotomy
PropertyValue
Headwordlaparotomy
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters10
Frequency rank#90,645
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “laparotomy” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). laparotomy lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

laparotomy is uncommon English at frequency #90,645 among 16,425 “L” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The surgical procedure for making an incision in the abdominal wall to gain access into the abdominal cavity. Performed either as exploratory surgery, or as the first step in an abdominal operation.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for laparotomy in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From laparo- + -tomy. The correct English form is laparotomy, spelled L-A-P-A-R-O-T-O-M-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    The surgical procedure for making an incision in the abdominal wall to gain access into the abdominal cavity. Performed either as exploratory surgery, or as the first step in an abdominal operation.

Etymology

From laparo- + -tomy.

This word in other languages

laparotomía(Español)laparotomie(Français)Laparotomie(Deutsch)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "laparotomy"?
"laparotomy" is spelled L-A-P-A-R-O-T-O-M-Y.
What does "laparotomy" mean?
As a noun, "laparotomy" means: The surgical procedure for making an incision in the abdominal wall to gain access into the abdominal cavity. Performed either as exploratory surgery, or as the first step in an abdominal operation.
What is the origin of the word "laparotomy"?
From laparo- + -tomy. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “laparotomy”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is L-A-P-A-R-O-T-O-M-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list